The Nationals have yet another opportunity to sweep a division rival, but the task today isn't an easy one. In knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the Nats will be facing one of the NL's best pitchers this season, owner of an 8-1 record, 2.69 ERA and 70-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

So not only will the Nationals need to try to string some hits together against Dickey, but they'll also need a better start from Chien-Ming Wang than they got the last time he took the mound (four runs, seven hits, three walks in four-plus innings at Miami).

The only change to Davey Johnson's lineup today is a swap of catchers, with Jesus Flores getting a much-deserved breather and rookie Jhonatan Solano behind the plate for his second career start.

I'm off today in advance of this weekend's trip to Boston, but Rich Dubroff will have you covered on CSNwashington.com. Enjoy the game and the conversation…

peric said… Maldonado isn't going anywhere not even to the DL until Sandy Leon is completely healthy and catching in Syracuse and Flores proves he is past this latest injury. Not to mention Solano's back issues with a recent visit to the DL in Syracuse.Davey has to carry 3 catchers … at least for now and he knows it. June 02, 2012 12:43 AM _____________________________I guess Rizzo isn't consulting Peric as we fast forward to yesterday. I couldn't find your other post where you basically told someone that they wouldn't send go to 2 catchers and the person who pondered the thought of playing with 2 catchers didn't know baseball.

Maldonado isn't going anywhere not even to the DL until Sandy Leon is completely healthy and catching in Syracuse and Flores proves he is past this latest injury. Not to mention Solano's back issues with a recent visit to the DL in Syracuse.NO and gee who did some catching with Bryce Harper and seemed very comfortable JUST 2 days ago? Doh? I think, well, yes it was Sandy Leon who is NOW PLAYING IN REAL GAMES in Florida? And Maldonado doesn't sound healthy enough to pinch hit much less catch … and he joins Nieto who is now also on the DL. Doh. Homer Gonat stop drinking all of that Duff beer. It gets in the way of your keeping up with what's going on now doesn't it? Doh!

Any word on whether the Nats are going after Soler? I think bids are do soon and he is last of the international free agents not to count against Selig's Anti-Nats system.I think it might next year … when they include International signings into the draft process. But you are dead on Water … it would be a way for Rizzo and the FO to make up for a sparse draft. I would expect even more activity on the International front this year in expectation of next year's (or the year after?) restrictions. Making JayB finally happy.

Ghost Of Steve M. said… Mark, good Q&A on Henry Rodriguez. I still.think they will get creative to avoid DFAing him. June 07, 2012 10:53 AM ______________________________Steve, did you know? I just heard HRod to the DL. I would agree. They couldn't trade him and won't DFA him.

NatsJack in Florida said… Gonat….yep HRod to the DL and Lidge activated. June 07, 2012 12:52 PM ______________________________I assumed SteveM was saying this morning that being "creative" so they didn't DFA him could only mean he was going on the DL.

Gonat, I stopped breaking news after catching gruff at the end of Spring Training. Glad you could read between the lines. Agree with MicheleS. Also it becomes fairly obvious no teams are willing to give up prospects for Henry at this point in time.

Does anybody else think that Moore's callup was timed to have him ready to DH in Boston & Toronto? Otherwise the presumed extra bat would be Bernandina (who might start in the OF instead of Lombo and therefore not actually the DH). But Davy might feel more comfortable with Moore than Bernie in the lineup, especially because of B.'s recent success in a PH role.

MicheleS-That is what I was thinking, as well. It is not his right finger, but maybe the right side of his brain that needs to get better. Poor guy has shown flashes, but then he has an extended brain freeze.+1/2St.

For our MPHRod it's more the head, than the finger, or for that matter, the arm. A good sports' psychologist for Henry, with Cat consulting on a daily basis.DL which ever way you look at it. A long term answer should be pursued, so that his potential is finally realized.

JD, trying to humble him if its possible. When you're wrong, say it and move on.Like I said, I couldn't find the post (maybe deleted) when someone said they would go with 2 catchers that Peric said that person (I'll paraphrase) didn't know much about baseball.Unfortunately, nobody really challenged him because who wants to be publicly humiliated. 4 days later, Maldanado to the DL. I recall Peric saying they would keep 3 catchers for the rest of the month. LMAO

All on ALR.. Agree, he needs a rest and I hope with the DH they can get Moore on 1B and give ALR a break from at least the field.Sean Kelly. I read that too and I hope it stays that way and he doesn't end up going to some other team up I-95 (NYY)

If anyone was suggesting Moore should play LF in Boston, that way madness lies. It takes experienced players a whole season to learn to play The Wall. Moore should get close to the Wall only if playing racquetball. Having said that, there are no good options for the Nats out there — not Harper, Morse or Lombardozzi. Maybe Nady, if Bosox pitch a LH.

JD, it will be interesting what they announce the reason for the DL. There have been players DL'd for Anxiety Disorder.The guy is a talent and 4 years ago would have been a possible closer candidate here, come to think of it, he was a closer here, uh, 4 weeks ago….

So, the first part of my prediction/wish sorta came true. I wrote (in the last thread):Perhaps Bryce can repeat his performance against "the ohter slowest pitcher" in the NL East.He struck out on three swings first time he faced Livo. Then Harper hit a HR on the first pitch of his following at bat. He learned fast.I guess I'd trade a 1st inning strike out for a 3rd or 4th inning HR . . . So, he struck out in the first. Look for that HR in the 3rd or 4th?

A DC Wonk said… he should be able to go on a rehab assignment before he returns.Perfect! Just what the doctor ordered! June 07, 2012 1:21 PM _____________________________Is it 30 days from the 1st day he appears in a team rehab assignment?

M20832.. You can only get it on Gameday on your computer (yell at Bud).Good to see CMW work out of the jam, but really don't want him touching the ball other than to throw it over home plate. Do NOT get hurt! Spin will take care of Henry!!! I know he gives us Ulcers (and bad livers) but I really want to see him do well

Re Henry. Someone needs to get through to him that his slider doesn't have to be perfect. When you throw 99 MPH even a decent change and an average slider should get you by. Henry also wilts under pressure. I am not sure there's coaching for that.

m20832 said… Espi is 0 for 11 against Dickey. Yeah….let's put him in….now I guess 0 for 12. June 07, 2012 1:39 PM ____________________________________You also risk messing up a guys swing who is already slumping.

baseballswami said… CMW playing with fire today. June 07, 2012 1:48 PM ______________________________Exactly what I was thinking. 2 innings in a row. At this pace, his pitch count will knock him out in the 5th and also will get guys like Wright up for additional at-bats.

I am at school teaching and was hoping to have updates from Mark. I see he is off.Can someone at least update the score every half innings, so while my students are doing their finals I can click update and see what is happening and know the score too. Thanks,

Can someone at least update the score every half innings, so while my students are doing their finals I can click update and see what is happening and know the score too.I"ll try a bit:End of three:Mets 0 3 0Nats 0 1 0

Top of fourth:Hairston flies out on second pitch.Ike Davis grounds out on first pitch.Quintanilla infield hit on second pitch.Dickey grounds out on three pitches.Decent inning: despite giving up a single, only 8 pitches!0-0 middle of the fourth

Bottom of 4th:Harper grounds out on a 3-0 pitch (ouch)RZ Grounds out.LaRoche — K on four pitches.0-0 after four.Random stat: league is hitting .199 off of Dickey in his first 45 pitches, .299 after that. He hit his 45th pitch this inning.

he is looking like Cy Young against us. In all fairness, he's looked like Cy Young against a lot of teams this year. Last time out, against the league-leading-hitting Cards, he shut them out over 9 innings, with 9 K's and no walks. His two games before that he threw a combined 14.1 innings, 21 K's and only 1 run. He ain't 8-1 this year for nothin'!

SCNatsFan said… Mets not having much difficulty figuring Wang out. June 07, 2012 2:19 PM __________________________You switch from Detwiler to Wang and the #5 pitcher's spot on this team is pitching like the #5 spot.Lidge has now been up twice in the bullpen. Still 4 innings to go.

Wang is at 80 pitches after 5IP, do we risk another inning? The last two innings have not looked good. Wang hit 5th, I assume we pitch hit for him if we get that far and let him start the 6th if we don't.

Wang doesn't have it today. Doubt that he is the fix for the no. 5 starter void. Solano can't throw to second base. Too bad I-Rod retired. Dickey is the kind of pitcher that always gives the Nats hitters fits. I sniff a complete game shut out.

You are right Ron… Danny's got it going on when striking out is a move up for him.Feel bad for the guy. Either his head is so screwd up or he is totally overmatched, neither good for a young player. My rants against him will continue until he is where he should be… and Lombo is where he should be.

Gonat – those steals were most definitely on Wang — No doubt about it at all. You are correct as usual. Everyone has been wondering how the Mets are doing so well this year. RA Dickey and David Wright – both are performing at a very high level, even for them. When you have a guy that can do this every fifth day 9 times? I also think that facing him might throw the hitters off for the next game. Good thing the nats are playing a day game and then not until tomorrow night. In Fenway, though.

Mike Rizzo today on Henry Rodriguez. It seems like he is concerned a lot that HenRod would go somewhere else and become an elite closer. I would be concerned at winning now and let the chips fall where they may. Hanrahan needed a change of scenery just like Burnett did for the Pirates."No one expected Storen to go down and Lidge to go down. Our two closers that we felt very comfortable with before the season started. And all he did when he was thrown in quickly was 9 for 12 in save opportunities, then had some struggles for sure with his command, but you give up on these guys too quick and they turn out to be Joel Hanrahan on you and it makes you look pretty bad."

phil dunton said… Gonat, Solano's two throws today were both 5-10 feet short of 2b. June 07, 2012 2:43 PM _____________________________Not sure if they were off by that much. I thought they were typical rushed throws when you have almost no shot to get the runner.Both steals were "on" Wang.

JD said… NatsJack,How soon do we see Espi to Syracuse; Lombo to 2nd and Brown to the outfield? June 07, 2012 2:43 PM _____________________________If I can chime in, should have happened weeks ago. Davey's insistence to have Espi work out of that mechanical funk he was in cost the Nats when he had Minor League options available.Corey Brown should've been starting in front of Ankiel.

Gonat, One of Davey's character traits is that he sticks with his players way longer than we fans think he should and most of the time he is right and we are wrong but this has been going on for a third of the season not to mention the 2nd half of last season.

JD said… Actually CMW's work for a 5th starter wasn't terrible.Well, was kinda ugly, but, bottom line: 2 runs in 5.1 innings is not bad. A deficit of two runs is eminently doable — if the Nats are able to hit Dickey!

Re: Rizzo's comments about giving up too early on Hanrahan: sometimes people ned a change of venue to be able to be their best. HRod has been PFB at times for us, but I think, as a player, he'd be better off with a new team and a new coach and a fresh, "we believe in you" start. And agree that it's something when Wang makes us moan and complain that he's not up to the other guys. Which is exactly what I was doing a lot of.

RE: Espi to SyracuseWhat chap me about Danny is in 2010 he struck out 27% of his plate appearances; last year it was 25%. This year it is up to 32%. Clearly he isn't learning how to hit MLB pitching at this level – why leave him here? I understand you don't want to wreck a young players confidence, but how confident can a guy be just becasue he is on the big club and he looks in the mirror and knows he is overmatched. And if he doesn't see that right now then he is deluded.

You know I didn't really think I would ever say this — this is one boring game. A real snooze fest. Hoping that changes. Is it my imagination or is Gorzelanny pitching at a very slow rate of speed today – not velocity, just work rate? Ugly, ugly, ugly.

JaneB, I concur with you on Henry. Clearly no team wants him in a trade that Rizzo will accept so the DL gets him away from the team for a while.It's all best case situation under difficult circumstances.

I posted a week ago about Henry going on the DL, it was just like his neck problem last year; something had to pop up. Let him rest for a week for 'treatment', get his some AA innings and see if he can relax his mind. The problem comes if 30 days isn't enough.

Glad we took the first two games. I am just hoping that facing this guy doesn't screw up everyone's timing and batting eye. Seems like there have been good crowds for this series. Lots of mets fans, but they seem to behave. The last two nights, it was very loud. Schools are only now ending, too, so hopefully it will pick up even more. I am going when we play the Rays. They are a very exciting young team – remind me of the Nats – and we will only get them here every 6 years. Unless we face them in the World Series of course

And RA Dickey leaves the mound, quaking in terror at the very thought of facing Rick Ankiel. I mean – wouldn't you be terrified? All I can say is – don't let the clubhouse door hit you in the *&% on the way out.

Oh well. At least there was no shutout. If LaRoche beats out that grounder, this could have really put Frank Francisco in a chair throwing rage if you know what I mean. Protect your chair when he's on the mound.

Ghost Of Steve M. said… NatsJack, I thought JJohnson was suspended. June 07, 2012 3:29 PM _____________________________SteveM, you are on a roll today. Syracuse infielder Josh Johnson violated the policy for a drug of abuse was admitted into MLB’s drug treatment program.

NatsJack in Florida said… Gonat…. mediocre…. perfect description of a #5 starter. June 07, 2012 4:05 PM __________________________Yep, I made that point earlier. Who gives you the best chance of winning + going deeper into the games from Wang, Detwiler, Lannan, and MayaRight now its Wang. Just not sure how many more opportunities you give him. Sometimes you have to do what Colorado did with Moyer who was on a a 1 year deal, cut bait and let someone else pick him up.

Silver lining people – It would have been hard to beat Dickey with any pitcher today; at least we didn't burn SS or GIO in a losing effort. Zim is starting to heat up, Morse isn't far off and Henry can't blow any games for a while.

Judging by last year; Wang should get somewhat sharper in the next few starts. Given the current crop available for the 5th spot I still think Det has the best stuff; he did pitch great for about a month.

I thought the same thing DJ. I wouldn't want Stras, Gio or Zimnn going against Dickey. I'd rather face Santana any day.The jury is still out for me on Det. I like the thought of that power arm out of the bull pen for 2 or 3 innings.

Running errands and listening to post game with Charlie,Dave and Phil Wood. One thing they were talking about was Wang not on the regular 5 days because of the off days. Apparently Sinker ball pitchers have a thing called " being too strong" and it screws them up – they have to be tired? I don't know anything about that but I think it's time to stop the pipe dream that he is going to be a superstar again. When he won 19 games ( raise your hand if you are very sick of hearing about that) he was with the Yankees and they were scoring 8 runs a game for him. There are pitchers in mlb right now with nice looking W-L records and era's anywhere from 4 – in the 6 plus range. I think we all have seen with this Nats team that the win/loss record is not always a reflection of a pitcher's ability. Just ask Cliff Lee about that. Will CMW stay our #5? Will it be Detweiler, Lannan, Maya? Will we need two of them in September? Who knows. Rizzo just might do some kind of deal by then if things are looking grim. Lots of baseball to be played before then. Hoping Bryce isn't lying through his teeth about his back.

I see why this dude is 9-1. I thought wang pitched well and will get better. Smart to pitch Gorzo the rest of the way to save arms for Red Sox series.Only critizsm is that in 4th inning when count was 3-0 on Bryce, he should have taken

Was at the game. My son went to Ben's Chili Bowl in the 5th inning to get a chili cheese dog. Ben's Chili Bowl was out of chili. He went to Ballpark Dogs (or whatever it's called)) They were out of hot dogs.

Bigfish – I do agree with you. Was there Sunday and Wednesday last week and line are getting longer. These stands were staffed for 18K a game and Lerner should be ramping up the staff and supplies for the coming weeks.